The business world moves tab for fear of a cut in aid by ERTE


Madrid

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Companies fear that the ERTE umbrella will be closed by force majeure on September 30. The negotiations of the government With the social agents to extend this figure - key to aggravating the drain on layoffs during the pandemic - they are still open, but in sectors such as the air or automobile sectors they fear being excluded from the new scheme. And that is if this figure is enlarged.

For now, sectors
such as air or hospitality
They are considered "ultra-protected", which allows them, for example, to have exemptions of up to 90% of the Social Security contributions. This status, however, will be difficult to maintain as of October; Given the incipient economic recovery, a part of the

Coalition government wants to start withdrawing this aid, which is very expensive for companies.

In case of Iberia it is paradigmatic. The former flag carrier announced on Monday its intention to begin negotiating a temporary employment regulation file (ERTE) for organizational and production reasons, given the possibility that the talks between the Government and social agents would not result in a extension of force majeure ERTEs for the air sector.

From the company they insist that they still remain between 30 and 35% below the levels of activity of 2019 and emphasize that their intention is to "maintain current conditions", that is, that the ERTE is partial and that the 5,000 employees affected by this process maintain an activity close to 70%.

But Iberia is not the only airline working on alternatives to ERTEs due to force majeure. Industry sources explain that "for weeks there has been a run-run among managers regarding the possibility that the Government does not extend the benefits of the ERTEs as of October." A cut in incentives that would occur, however, with the sector still at half gas, which would force to look for alternatives.

Tourism and automobiles

“Although the summer has been positive, global activity levels remain very far from those registered before the Covid. Between January and August the number of flights has fallen by 52% and the number of passengers by 68% ”, they highlight in the Airline Association (ALA).

The situation is extrapolated
to the rest of the tourism sector
: no one is assured of the benefits of the ERTE beyond September 30. That is why in recent weeks different employers have insisted on the need to expand aid to avoid a drain on layoffs and a trail of bankruptcies at the dawn of the low season.

«Now we begin to notice the abandonment of the activity of the national tourist. This factor, added to the collapse of international tourism, is something very hard for the companies that opened and had seen a certain recovery in August. We have to try to endure and for this it is vital that the safety net offered by the ERTE remains ”, highlighted last week the president of Cehat, the hotel management association, Jorge Marichal.

The automotive sector is also beginning to make a move. SEAT, for example, announced last week that it would apply an ERTE for organizational reasons until June of next year that would affect a total of 11,000 employees. If tourism fears the arrival of the low season, car manufacturers warn of the impact that the global shortage of chips is having on their production.

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